HTML

HTML (HyperText Markup Language) is the main markup language for creating web pages and other information to be displayed in a web browser, providing both the structure and content for what is sent from a web server through the use of tags. The current implementation of the HTML specification is HTML5.

Enroll in these four OWASP courses: Avoiding Hacker Tricks, Forgery and Phishing, Proactive Controls, and Threats Fundamentals. Also learn a basic introduction to web design where you can implement these OWASP security measures.

Join us in celebrating longtime user Rowby Goren for his great contributions of engaging with other users on site. We explore his method for posing questions that are likely to yield a solution, and take a look at how his career transformed from a Hollywood writer to a website entrepreneur.

There's never been a better time to become a computer scientist. Employment growth in the field is expected to reach 22% overall by 2020, and if you want to get in on the action, it’s a good idea to think about at least minoring in computer science and knowing how to code.

The first step to building an amazing About page is to figure out what you want the page to say about your company. You then must grab the attention of the reader, boast a bit, tell a story and let others brag about you. With a little bit of thought, you can create an About page that will draw site

Without even knowing it, most of us are using web applications on a daily basis. In fact, Gmail and Yahoo email, Twitter, Facebook, and eBay are used by most of us daily—and they are web applications. We generally confuse these web applications tools for websites. So, what is a web application and how is it different from a website? What are some different types of web applications? We will help you decipher which is best for the business functions you want to achieve- a website or a web application.

Website vs. Web Application

The best way to elucidate the difference between websites and web applications is to think in terms of purpose. Do you want to provide information or do you want to get it?

Websites are simple, static, single page sites or marketing websites for distributing information. Websites generally feature and promote products, services, and organizations through articles, images, video, and files. A site informs the world about who you are and what you offer. For instance, you can check your local Italian restaurant website as a customer to check out the ‘Day’s Special,’ or hours of operation without giving away any information about yourself.

Web applications on the other hand are less focused on marketing and more on functionality to fulfill specific business purpose (submitting, storing, searching, and retrieving data). Web applications are software that runs on the web to provide some kind of service or to improve efficiency. Web applications generally always use databases, and are therefore called dynamic. It requires user interaction, as in the user has to provide information in order for the application to work. The big advantage of a web application is that it does not need the developer to build a client for a specific type of computer or a specific operating system because it runs in a web browser. Users can even be using Internet Explorer, Chrome or Firefox, though some web applications may require a specific Web browser.

An Example:

Think of the website of your bank, which promotes the brand and provides customers vital information about their services, and security features. Any member of the public can view the bank’s website but for account holders, the bank also offers web application tools focused on providing specific functionalities. For instance, to help check the balance on their account, submit an online loan application form, or pay bills online.

Technical Foundation

Websites and web applications both are collections of programming code for delivery of content and functionality on the web. The software run on web servers and is accessed through web browsers on a variety of devices. Both use the same coding languages and tools (HTML, JavaScript, CSS and others) to develop the software. Web applications commonly use a combination of server-side script (ASP, PHP, or Python etc) to deal with databases, storing and retrieving information and client-side script (HTML, Javascript, CSS and others etc.) to present that information, along with frameworks like Rails, Django, etc. to develop and maintain the application.

Types Of Web Applications

There are three different types of web-based applications depending on the roles performed and logic placed and distributed by the server and the client browser.

Server-side HTML Web Application- In this type of web development architecture, the server generates HTML content and sends it to the client as a full-fledged HTML-page.

JS Generation Widgets (AJAX)- The page displayed in the browser shows widgets, where data is uploaded through AJAX query from the server into the content of the page. Any updates from the server show up only for the part of the page requested by the client.

Service-oriented Single-page Web Apps– An HTML-page is downloaded from the server, which acts as a container for JavaScript code to address a particular web service and retrieve business data only. The data is used by the self-sufficient JavaScript application, which generates the HTML content of the page.

It’s also possible to implement hybrid architecture to meet specific business requirements. The architecture of this collection of logically related interactive functions can consist of a number of components, including-

Business application functionality

Security

Browsers such as Internet Explorer

E-Mail functionality

Forums or bulletin boards

Custom-built Advertising

Web Applications Are The Future

Web apps can be customized and tailored for business purposes, like accounting software, reminder systems, order forms, and sales tracking for time saving efficiencies. Web applications can also be designed to strengthen both internal and external communication and improve data delivery and distribution. Advanced web applications are now available as online portals and eCommerce, which delivers content and the functionality of searching, adding to cart, and online financial transaction.

Most business owners understand the value of websites in their marketing plan but not many know the benefits of web applications and how they can offer stronger products and services, improve SEO, reduce cost significantly and help expand their business. Ultimately, whether you choose a website or a web application depends on your assessment of what you want to achieve.

In my day we called them dynamic websites that reacted to you what you wanted
A shopping site is hardly an application - it doesn't change according to my interaction, yeah it may offer products based on my history but its the same site for everyone
MS Excel online is an application, one change is seen by everyone
At what point does a shopping site that basically shows the same information to everyone become an application?

Is a mobile app an application because it's called an app even tho its still showing a website?

Originally, this post was published on Monitis Blog, you can check it here.

In business circles, we sometimes hear that today is the “age of the customer.” And so it is. Thanks to the enormous advances over the past few years in consumer technologies such as mobile and social media, customers are the ones who “shop with their voice” so to speak. The world of blog, forums, and numerous other social media channels over the past decade have provided consumers with unheard of power to determine their choice of products, brands, and services. Because of this power customer expectations have also gone through the roof. Continuing advances in technology, along with the “consumerization of IT,” has meant that companies are now expected to offer real-time, 24/7 service to meet the demands of mobile savvy customers.

Today, it’s all about meeting the customer needs and getting them to buy your products. And in order to do so, companies need to ensure their applications and websites are in tip-top shape. Customers simply will not have any patience for a website or application that is error prone or buggy or one that takes forever to load. This is why website performance and application monitoring is so central to your business strategy.

We talk about this subject a lot because it’s really so critical to the bottom-line of a business. And it’s even becoming more incumbent today as the demands of new technologies like the Internet of Things and wearables mean that customers are interacting with companies and their products through more endpoints than ever before. All of these channels require performance monitoring to ensure that things run as efficiently and optimally as possible. At the end of the day, web performance is really about keeping the customers happy.

In what follows, we want to do a reality check by discussing 7 “sure fire” ways to improve your web performance and make sure your customers keep coming back. After all, your business ROI really depends on it!

1. Keep Things Fast!

Research shows a clear relationship between web load speed and customer conversions. The faster a page loads the more likely customers will be to visit and do business on your site. The inverse is also true. The slower a page the less likely customers will be willing to wait around and engage with your brand. While this seems fairly straightforward, it’s surprising how few business owners really get the importance of website performance and the role it plays in their business strategy. It might be nice to have a trendy looking website, but if it takes 10 seconds to load visitors won’t hang around long enough to appreciate all the bells and whistles anyway.

2. Make Your Central Message Crystal Clear

From the moment visitors hit your page you want to give them a clear reason for why they should stick around. To do this you need to deliver your central message as quickly, clearly, and convincingly as possible. Don’t make your home page so convoluted that folks don’t know what action to take. Use large font, go generous on the content, and create clear pathways to the channels they need to purchase your product . . . period, end of story.

3. Give Visitors a Reason to Return

So you’ve got some visitors, now what? Well, that’s only half the battle. Studies show that most will not purchase on the first visit. So you need to give visitors a solid reason to return to your website. Do this by providing them with something useful, something they can’t refuse. Provide practical articles, a regularly updated blog, a newsfeed, or other user-generated content . . . anything that will engage your visitors and provide them with something of value.

4. Check Your Web Hosting

When reviewing web performance one of the first things to check is your web hosting service. It’s surprising how many times this gets overlooked. Even though your provider may offer you unlimited bandwidth, does that mean shared service with other sites that end up affecting your own web performance? Are you frequently experiencing downtime or bandwidth issues? If so, it’s worthwhile to review your hosting options to ensure you’re getting the most efficient service. Don’t be afraid to insist on 99.99% uptime.

5. Use Web Analytics & Gather Metrics

To some, this sounds like a well-worn cliché by now, but it needs to be drilled in more and more. If you’re not tracking the behavior of your visitors with metrics then you’re leaving money on the table. There are many web analytics tools on the market today that can help you closely monitor your customer’s online behaviors. The ability to track a single customer across your site and across multiple devices will ensure that you can tailor your brand to their needs. For instance, you want to learn more about when and where they’re visiting from, what devices they’re using, what are their online activities, and other key demographics such as age. Gaining these insights will help your organization better understand what’s important to your visitors and how to personalize their experience.

6. Take It Easy on Design ‘Best Practices’

Increasing the size of your website images, third-party scripts, and style sheets come with a heavy price and can adversely affect performance. This is especially true in the world of mobile. Over 50% of all time consumers spend on retails site is on mobile devices and more than 50% of consumers multiscreen during the purchasing. According to this slide deck, some of the worst practices are web pages that are initially blank and then populate, pages where the call to action is the last thing to render, popups that block the rest of the page, and designing and testing in a way that the user experience is completely overlooked.

7. Adopt Cloud-Based Website Monitoring

There are significant advantages to offloading your website monitoring to a cloud-based host – cost, scalability, efficiency, to name a few. Not to mention, this frees you up to focus on growing your business, which matters the most anyway.

If you’d like to get onboard with the latest in cloud-based monitoring then you should try a 24/7 monitoring service like Monitis. With its first-class global service, Monitis allows organizations to monitor their network anytime and from anywhere. For instance, with Monitis you can load test your website to determine at what point it starts creating traffic issues. They’ll also send you timely alerts by every possible means (live phone messages, text, email, Twitter, etc.) to keep you apprised about your site performance. If your web hosting services go down then Monitis will be first to let you know.

When it comes to monitoring your website, you don’t want to shortchange yourself. Get the peace of mind you deserve by entrusting your business to a proven industry leader. Go to Monitis and sign up for a free trial today and let them help boost your bottom-line. You’ll be glad you did!

Originally, this post was published on Monitis Blog, you can check it here.

Websites are getting bigger and more complicated by the day. Video, images and custom fonts are all great for showcasing your product or service. But the price to pay in terms of reduced page load times and ultimately, decreased sales, could lead to some difficult decisions about what to cut.

Web loads speeds are integral factors in determining your SEO and how long customers will stay at your site. But web design, as important as it is for driving traffic, can also get in the way of your ultimate goal of bringing customers and revenue. In other words, you must avoid page bloat at all costs!

This is why businesses today, more than ever, must develop a clearly defined web performance optimization strategy. In fact, web monitoring should be an integral part of your web design best practices. To be clear, web performance optimization (or WPO) is the science of making your website perform better so it increases visitor retention, improves SEO, and drives more sales.

To give a great case study of how WPO works, consider what 37signals (now Basecamp) did with their Highrise marketing website. Using A/B testing, the company did multiple tests to determine the best plan for their landing page. In one case, the original background was white and cluttered with information. A dramatic change was made by replacing this white background with a picture of a person smiling.

The new landing page led to an increase in signups at the Highrise site by 102.5%!

This list provides another 99 great case studies of how WPO made a huge difference in website conversions.

In what follows, we take things further by providing you a brief checklist of the key steps to ensuring your website performance optimization strategy is on track.

Keep Things Fast!

Website conversions are integrally tied to the speed of the site. One second saved in download time can make all the difference between a sale or a bounce.

Check Your Web Hosting

Your web hosting may offer “unlimited bandwidth” but if it involves shared services with other websites that impacts overall performance, then is it really worth it? It’s always a good idea to periodically review your hosting plan to ensure you’re getting the best value for your dollar.

Make Your Site Mobile First

Having a “mobile first” website is critical to success in today’s digital marketplace. If you don’t believe it, just consider that mobile commerce transactions in the United States alone are expected to total $123 billion in 2016

Image Optimization

“Page bloat” – or the practice of cramming websites with high density images – has gotten out of hand and is the number one culprit for long page loading times. Don’t bloat your website! One of the best ways to ensure proper image optimization is to adopt correct sizing and formatting for all your images.

Go Easy with Affiliate Codes & Ads

Ads and affiliate code are good . . . up to a point! But when you go overboard, this can lead to high bounce rates and can adversely impact your overall website performance. Constantly check how third-party applications impact your load speed!

Cache Often

Caching is a mechanism for the temporary storage of web pages in order to reduce bandwidth and improve performance. This saves server time and makes your website faster overall.

Use a CDN

Content Delivery Networks deliver the static files of a website, like CSS, images, and JavaScript, through servers that are in closer proximity to the user’s physical location. Every second that you save in download time is dollars in your pocket.

Make Your CTA Front & Center

Don’t make your landing page a game of “guess where to check-out the merchandise.” Visitors don’t want to spend extra time trying to figure out where to complete their transactions. Your Call to Action should be front and center on the landing page.

Adopt Cloud-based Website Monitoring

Imagine having all of the vital statistics for your website in a nice convenient dashboard, and getting alerts about trouble spots long before they reach impact your customers. Cloud hosted web monitoring is the crucial component in today’s digital marketplace. IT system monitoring is first of all a real time data that can help you respond to problems. You cannot do without monitoring tools, if you hope to optimize and maximize your application’s performance.

When it comes to write a Context Sensitive Help (an online help that is obtained from a specific point in state of software to provide help with that state), first we need to make the file that contains all topics, which are given exclusive IDs. Later on, the header file lists symbolic IDs and Numeric IDs for control and dialog boxes in the program. However, before you start writing, you need to take note of following points:

Depending on the program, you can compile hundreds or thousands of topics. If you succeed to develop a good tracking system, it will safe to talk with software developers or test the files

In case you use an IDH as prefix for the topic ID. HTML help workshop will automatically check the topics in project actual exits in the compiled help file. It will also ensure that the context sensitive topics are made in project file

You have to make sure the develop maps assists to add labels and controls in dialog box. Users can just click on control in dialog box including button or text box to get help while others just click on label for control, therefore you may want same help topic to appear in both situations

If there are more than one item in a group box, you need to separate help topics for each item. Doing this lets you assign group box a generic topic that tells user to click each and every item in-group for relative information. If there is only one item in-group box label, related the group box label with topic of item

You can map a topic ID to a number. However, numeric values defined in help file needs to be irreplaceable. You can specify numeric values in decimal and hexadecimal format. The software develop can develop mapping for you in head file

With the given basic guidelines for creating context help, we will help you understand it better. Yes, we are giving you an example of how to create a Context Sensitive Popup Help.

Creating Pop Up Help

The Context sensitive helps lets the user to find information about a specific user interface element. The pop up help appears in a pop up window instead of help viewer, this example is just a four step process which details how to creative context sensitive helppop up.

To suffice, you better make a text file for the header file and help topics so you can add them in the project file

Your text file should enlist important topics curated for pop up help; each topic id in text file needs to match a symbolic ID in header file

Header file has the numeric and symbolic Id for all dialog box and respective commands in the program. The software development team should provide a list of ID for the Header file

Making the Text File for Pop up on Help Topics

First Open the HTML Help Workshop

in File menu, click on New and then click on Text

Create an entry point for each pop up help topic and use the following format:

. topic <i>topic ID</i><i>help topic</i>

in here, “topic ID” is symbolic ID of a dialog box control where “helptopic” is help text for control

Save the File

Creating the Header File

Open Notepad

Create specified entries for every symbolic ID, this is followed by the equivalent numeric ID which uses the following format

#define IDH_symbolicID 1000

in here, the “symbolicID” is symbolic ID for part of program (including dialog box or control) and “1000” is numeric ID. The Numeric ID in header file are used only by HTML help compiler as it maps numeric ID in header file to help topics

The most successful MSPs rely on metrics – known as key performance indicators (KPIs) – for making informed decisions that help their businesses thrive, rather than just survive. This eBook provides an overview of the most important KPIs used by top MSPs.

Well bless your cotton socks, Ryan! Thank goodness someone else can do the jobs I can't fathom. I've been writing websites for clients for 11 years and I like to stick to my lane (writing quality copy). The thought of trying to code/design/build a website does my head in. We all have our strengths, don't we? For me, it's words ... not graphics, not design, not accounting. I know from working with you that your level of service is outstanding so there's no question about you being a "successful web developer"! I enjoyed your post (even if it did make my head spin a bit)!

Thanks for sharing such nice resources for Web Design. I also found some courses on Webemployed that teach front-end and back-end development separately. Some of them also offer free certificates of completion. The main thing is to know which Web technologies you want to master. There are many options like PHP, Mode.js, React.js etc but you need to do some research beforehand.

Finding original email is quite difficult due to their duplicates. From this article, you will come to know why multiple duplicates of same emails appear and how to delete duplicate emails from Outlook securely and instantly while vital emails remain intact.

Hello
Manual techniques mentioned above are the best wy to remove Outlook's Duplicates.I tried all the manual techniques to remove Outlook's duplicates, But unfortunately, i could remove only a few duplicates outlook's files as there are lots of PST files and damn big attachment in my Outlook and
So, left with no choice I used SysInfo Outlook duplicate Remover. With this tool, I managed to remove all Duplicates in a single run.

I want to delete actual duplicates, not redundant emails from conversations. By an actual duplicate I mean an exact duplicate - as if you copied and pasted an email into the same folder.

Outlook Clean up function seems to only work on redundant emails - those are emails from a conversation where the Reply includes the information from the previous email.
The Modifying View settings method also only works on emails that aren't exact duplicates. Exact duplicates have the same modified date and time.

I work in an office where we are not allowed to have third-party add ons and am dependent on MS for solutions.

Is there any way without add ons to remove exact duplicates from Outlook 2013?

Is your Office 365 signature not working the way you want it to? Are signature updates taking up too much of your time? Let's run through the most common problems that an IT administrator can encounter when dealing with Office 365 email signatures.

This article explains how to prepare an HTML email signature template file containing dynamic placeholders for users' Azure AD data. Furthermore, it explains how to use this file to remotely set up a department-wide email signature policy in Office 365 via Windows PowerShell using Exchange Online tr

Are you thinking about creating an Amazon Web Services account for your business? Not sure where to start? In this course you’ll get an overview of the history of AWS and take a tour of their user interface.

This is a PowerShell web interface I use to manage some task as a network administrator. Clicking an action button on the left frame will display a form in the middle frame to input some data in textboxes, process this data in PowerShell and display some results in bottom frame.

Have you tried to learn about Unicode, UTF-8, and multibyte text encoding and all the articles are just too "academic" or too technical? This article aims to make the whole topic easy for just about anyone to understand.

I'm one of those poor souls who has to write cross-platform C++ code and the headaches involved in getting Unicode encoding working in a cross platform way is a nightmare. In general, we stick to UTF8 right up until we hit the system functions. On *nix platforms UTF8 works fine, on Windows one has to convert to UTF16. It's a bit of a pain, because there is a little inefficiency in doing this but it's normally not enough to cause concern.

What doesn't help is the fact Microsoft continuously refer to UTF16 as Unicode and anything else as ANSI. This has confused a lot of Windows programmers into thinking if it's a 16 bit data type it must be Unicode and if it's an 8 bit data type it's not. Ironically, Windows has no native support for UTF8 at the API level, even though it does have a UTF8 code page! I wish someone would welcome Microsoft into the 21st Century :)

UTF8 is really the only portable encoding format and for my money it's the encoding format I'd go for every time. Anyone interested in Unicode transformation and encoding, either because they are an engineer or they are a masochist, should also find the following resource really very useful and a nice compliment to this well written article.

HTML

HTML (HyperText Markup Language) is the main markup language for creating web pages and other information to be displayed in a web browser, providing both the structure and content for what is sent from a web server through the use of tags. The current implementation of the HTML specification is HTML5.